Breathing a Little Easier

I know that since the U.S. qualified, the main purpose of most matches was to tinker with lineups and formations in order to find the most competitive mix for the World Cup. Aside from an inspired match in Poland, since the end of qualifying, the U.S. has been lackluster at best. Part of it is due to the fact that many of the European players were not available, but now that the roster is intact, it's heartening to finally see a result.

Convey was flat-out dominating. I'm thinking about 60 minutes of O'Brien and 30 minutes of Convey, per match, would be a great combination. As a matter of fact, if Reyna can't go, I'd like to see Convey and O'Brien on the pitch together.

It was nice to see a healthy Bocanegra again. In my opinion, Gibbs should've been behind him on the depth chart anyway, so the injury is less troublesome to the U.S. than it might appear. That second yellow-card against Bocanegra was a joke, and the first one was earned out of complete necessity due to the unsportsmanlike play of Venezuela, who was executing an attack after an injury to Josh Wolff (where was the card on that, by the way?). In addition, after the headbutt that Johnson took, and the elbow to Convey's face - both without cards - how can the ref justify giving Boca a card on that 50/50 ball? Horrendous...

Ching was hot-and-cold, but it was nice to see him finish one. He needs to be more commanding in the box, because he had some chances that he just didn't get to. I'd like to see him stay hot, though, as a little firepower with fresh legs off the bench will be a necessity in the tournament.

Overall, I feel much better about the U.S. after that effort-filled performance last night. Hopefully, we didn't peak in Poland, and we'll see similar efforts in the very near future.